A long but informative post about South Australian Electricity - yep the same Privatised system held up by the supporters of Assets Sales. SA households spend a larger proportion of their income on energy bills than others in any mainland state • by: DANIEL WILLS STATE POLITICAL EDITOR • From: The Advertiser • September 24, 2013 A new report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows SA households spend $40 per week on electricity and gas for their homes. Source: News Limited SOUTH Australians households pay a higher proportion of their income toward energy bills than those in any mainland state despite being among the nation’s lowest energy users. A new report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows SA households spend $40 per week on electricity and gas for their homes and a further $54 on fuel for vehicles. While the average total spend for SA households is below the national rate of $99, lower incomes in the state means it is harder for people to make ends meet. READ MORE: More homes cut off over unpaid electricity bills The report shows SA households spend 2.5 per cent of their weekly income on electricity and gas, compared to 2 per cent nationwide and as low as 1.7 per cent in Queensland and WA. To add insult to injury, SA households consume less electricity than those in all states but Victoria and use gas at a rate just half the national average. SA Council of Social Services executive director Ross Womersley said the results backed up anecdotal complaints about spiralling energy bills. The low level of energy consumption in SA was evidence many households were severely cutting back on their use because of spiralling prices, he said. “This yet again demonstrates what we’ve been saying for quite some time that, relatively speaking, South Australia still is a very expensive place to buy electricity,” Mr Womersley said. “This helps to explain one of the reasons for a spike in the rate of disconnections. “It’s because people are genuinely struggling to meet this critical and essential expenditure.” Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis said households should shop around to make sure they were getting the best available prices. Reduction in power supply lead to huge price spike “What we need people to understand is that electricity should be treated like any other commodity in a supermarket. You should shop around and buy the cheapest one,” he said. “Twenty-five per cent of South Australians are still paying by far the highest power prices because they haven’t made a phone call to switch.” Mr Koutsantonis said lower absolute power charges in SA than some other states justified the State Government’s decision to deregulate the electricity market. Opposition Leader Steven Marshall yesterday said the new ABS data “reveals what every South Australian householder knows, electricity prices hurt South Australians more”. “As a proportion of income, South Australians are hit harder by electricity prices than any other mainland state. Cost of living pressure is hurting South Australian families,” he said.
Posted on: Wed, 25 Sep 2013 06:36:46 +0000
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